AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Murray Gillies, AABP Board of Directors representative to District 12, and Dr. Charlie Gardner, chair of the AABP Mental Health Task Force, for this episode to discuss mental health and well-being initiatives being developed by AABP. Gillies proposed the creation of a Mental Health Task Force to provide support to AABP members and create resources to aid in the prevention of mental illness and promotion of mental health. We discuss that there is a stigma associated with mental illness and normalizing the conversations around mental health can support our colleagues in bovine practice. Prevention of mental illness and improving our own mental health is important and we discuss various tips for preventive medicine for ourselves as well as tips on how to find a counselor. The AABP Foundation has recently supported the Veterinary Hope Foundation through a $25,000 donation, to fund the creation of peer support groups that are available at no cost to AABP members to join. Find out more information about the Veterinary Hope Foundation at this link and the partnership with AABP and how to join on this page. AABP members who want to support mental health initiatives through the AABP Foundation can donate to this fund on this page. We encourage all members to take the AVMA QPR training program to recognize and assist colleagues who may be struggling. Find out information about this resource on the AVMA Well-Being page. AABP also encourages members to consider submitting a story to the Humans of AABP Facebook page by contacting fred@aabp.org or gwren@aabp.org. The intent of the series is to normalize conversations around mental health and support each other. Stories can be posted anonymously.
Resources:
AABP Mental Health Resources page
Mental Health in the Headcatch
Josh Tanguay
Proceedings of the 53rd Annual AABP Conference
Suicide Prevention Hotline Numbers
US 800-273-8255
Canada 833-456-4566
Dr. Charlie Gardner
charlesegardner@ptd.net
717-816-4246